Identification of N-acyl-l-homoserine lactones produced by non-pigmented Chromobacterium aquaticum CC-SEYA-1T and pigmented Chromobacterium subtsugae PRAA4-1T

Many members of the genus Chromobacterium produce violacein, a characteristic purple pigment which is induced by small diffusible N-acyl homoserine lactones (AHL) quorum-sensing molecules. In this study, the production of AHL of the non-pigmented C. aquaticum CC-SEYA-1(T) and the pigmented C. subtsugae PRAA4-1(T) were determined by using a CV026 biosensor assay. The profile of AHL was identified from the extracts of stationary phase cultures using gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) and thin layer chromatography (TLC). CV026 biosensor assay revealed that both the non-pigmented C. aquaticum CC-SEYA-1(T) and the pigmented C. subtsugae PRAA4-1(T) produced AHL molecules, which were identified, respectively, as N-octanoyl homoserine lactone (OHL) [also known as C-8 homoserine lactone (C8-HSL)] and N-hexanoyl homoserine lactone (HHL) [also known as C-6 homoserine lactone (C6-HSL)]. The pigment produced by C. subtsugae PRAA4-1(T) was similar to that of Chromobacterium violaceum ATCC12472(T) but no characteristic visible spectral peaks of the pigment were observed in the extracts of C. aquaticum CC-SEYA-1(T). In addition, C. aquaticum CC-SEYA-1(T) and C. subtsugae PRAA4-1(T) showed hemolytic activities.